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Sleepless
Summary Mulder and Krycek investigate a series of murders perpetrated by telepathic Vietnam War veteran Augustus Cole. By interviewing Cole's psychiatrist and former squad member, and with Scully's autopsy results, they determine Cole and his squad were the subjects of a top-secret military experiment designed to eliminate a soldier's need for sleep. Mulder determines Cole's next victim, Dr. Gerardi, and attempts to save him. In the subsequent confrontation, Cole commits suicide by tricking Krycek into shooting him. Krycek is revealed to work for the Cigarette Smoking Man. Teaser NEW YORK CITY 11:23 P.M. Dr. Saul Grissom awakes to find smoke seeping through his front door. He opens the door and finds a blaze has rendered it impassable. Panicked, he calls 911; the operator tells him that fire units are being dispatched. Grissom grabs a fire extinguisher and tries to fight the fire, but the extinguisher is too weak. As firemen ascend the building’s stairwell, Augustus “Preacher” Cole descends. The firemen breach Grissom’s apartment and find no evidence of fire, but Grissom is dead. Synopsis A cassette and article are delivered to Fox Mulder apartment indicating Grissom’s bizarre death, and Mulder asks Walter Skinner to be assigned to the case. Skinner assigns Mulder and Alex Krycek to investigate. Mulder discovers that Grissom’s work involved manipulating sleep patterns. He also surreptitiously arranges for Dana Scully to perform Grissom’s autopsy; she relates that the body exhibits only secondary characteristics of being burned alive – that it is as if only “his body believed that it was burning”. Cole and Henry “Willy” Willig, members of the same squad in the Vietnam War, meet in Willig’s apartment. Cole projects the image of charred Vietnamese civilians armed with M-16s; they raise their weapons and kill Willig. Willig’s post-mortem reveals characteristics similar to Grissom’s – both bodies reacted to circumstances that weren’t occurring. Mulder discovers that both Grissom and Willig were stationed at Paris Island, and that Willig was assigned to Special Recon Force J-7 (SRF J-7), along with Cole. Mulder and Krycek investigate Cole at a psychiatric ward only to discover he has escaped; they learn, however, that Cole could disrupt other patients’ sleep cycles. Alone, Mulder meets with X, who provides him with top-secret documents detailing a military program designed to eliminate a soldier’s need to sleep – a project with which Grissom was involved. He reveals that Cole hasn’t slept in twenty-four years, and refers Mulder to an undisclosed survivor of SRF J-7: Salvatore Matola. Mulder hides the documents in his car. Krycek reports to Mulder that the police have Cole cornered; when they arrive on the scene, however, two officers have shot one another, and Cole has escaped. Mulder faxes X’s documents to Scully, and hypothesizes to her that Cole has found a way to project his unconscious – to externalize his dreams. Mulder and Krycek meet with Salvatore Matola. He recalls SRF J-7’s time as an AWOL unit in Vietnam, recounting the murder of civilians by his platoon. Matola also tells them that Dr. Grissom and Dr. Gerardi are responsible for performing the experiment on SRF J-7 that allows them, like Cole, to never need sleep. Mulder determines that Gerardi is Cole’s next target; they arrive at the train station where Gerardi is expected. Mulder finds Gerardi, but Cole shoots both Gerardi and Mulder. Krycek finds Mulder unconscious, and not wounded – Krycek regards Mulder suspiciously, as he has no evidence of either Gerardi or Cole’s presence. Unperturbed, Mulder insists on reviewing the station’s security cameras, where they discover an anomaly on track 17. Gerardi is badly wounded by Cole’s projection of SRF J-7; they attack him with scalpels. Mulder and Krycek discover Gerardi’s body moments after the attack; Krycek stays with Gerardi and Mulder pursues Cole. Mulder finds Cole, and tries to persuade him to testify against the military, but moments into their conversation, Krycek appears. Krycek, believing Cole is armed, shoots him. Mulder discovers X’s top-secret document is gone; Scully’s copy of the document has been also stolen. It is revealed that Krycek has stolen Mulder’s copy, and that Krycek reports directly to the Cigarette Smoking Man. Krycek remarks that separating Mulder and Scully has served only to strengthen their resolve, and that Scully is a significant problem. Background Information *This episode features the first appearance of Alex Krycek. *Prior to this epsiode Nicholas Lea (Alex Krycek), appeared in another episode - Gender Bender as a character named Michael. Links and References Guest Stars *Mitch Pileggi as AD Walter Skinner *Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek *Jon Gries as Salvatore Matola *Steven Williams as X *Tony Todd as Augustus "Preacher" Cole Co-stars *Don Thompson as Henry Willig *David Adams as Dr. Girardi *Michael Puttonen as Dr. Pilsson *Anna Hagen as Dr. Charyn *William B. Davis as Cigarette Smoking Man *Mitchell Kosterman as Detective Horton *Paul Bittante as Lieutenant Reagan *Claude De Martino as Dr. Grissom References sleep eradication; Vietnam War; Manhattan; New York City; New York; cassette tape; FBI Academy; Quantico; Virginia; National Airport; Grissom Sleep Disorder Center; Stamford; Connecticut; alpha wave; parasomnia; insomnia; pugilistic attitude; extradural hemorrhage; Brooklyn; medical examiner; Vietnam; Marine; Parris Island ;South Carolina; FBI Library; VA Medical Center; North Orange; New Jersey; circadian cycle; confirmed kills; seratonin; Fu Bai; Bible; Long Island Expressway; Harvard; Bronx Station; Bronx; Metropolitan Transit Authority Category:X-Files episodes